Goosey Goosey Gander

This Saturday we brought home two new additions to our 'family'...little male and female goslings. Unfortunately they were 'straight run' which for those who don't know means that you don't know if they are male or female. The fellow at the store and I figured that the larger ones might be males and the smaller ones the females so with that idea I picked out two that I liked. We've never had geese before so this will be a learning experience and hopefully a good one. We have a little female Shih Tzu that thinks she's a lion (if you've read my earlier post on her you'll know what I'm talking about!). She loves to chase the chickens so we thought getting a rooster would put her in her place. Nope...she had the rooster on the run in no time! So...I had heard that ganders will protect their mates...plus they're pretty big(eventually) so now I'm hoping that one day down the road if the two shall meet...that Chelsea will be put in her place once and for all!

In the meantime...we are trying to pick the perfect names for these two little 'fluff balls'. I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a good old English name for each of them but I'm at a loss! The best names I could come up with have been Simone and Garfunkle (Note to self-change to Simon if she turns out to be a male!). If they were ducks I'd name one of them Mrs Puddleduck...I think that's such a cute name. If you think you have a name we might like please send it along...we'd love to see it!

 

Aren't they just the cutest little fluff balls!

Country Cottage Kitchens

I love the bright open feel to this kitchen but yet it's cozy. Wish I had those windows!

One day we will 'bite the bullet' and tackle our kitchen renovation. We've gone through this in a major way once before...in fact 3 years ago we were just finishing off a major kitchen renovation. That was my DREAM kitchen.....and just over a year after we did it... we SOLD the house! Not before we did the dining room and living room first...all major renovations too. This time we aren't going anywhere once we're done....this is where we hope to live for a GOOD many years.

I LOVE the sink...I miss my farmhouse sink. I love the white and red too...very farmhouse 'cottagey'!

This renovation won't be quite as major as the last one but it will still make a big difference to the feel of the kitchen. Like the last time...I've been looking at all kinds of pictures trying to get a feel for what I like. This house is a true farmhouse...nothing fancy...not huge...but it has a cozy charm to it that I like to refer to as 'country cottage'. I'd like my kitchen to be bright and cheery and inviting...a place where people like to hang out. It's not a huge kitchen but it's big enough for the two of us. The layout is great just the way it is and the cupboards will just get a paint job and crown molding and a bit of trim and that's it. Most of the work will be done to the ceiling and walls and maybe the floor...if not now we'll take care of that later. If it all works out the plan is to pull up the stuck down tiles and clean up the original wood floor and paint it...maybe even stencil something on it. We'll see. For now I'm just having fun admiring other kitchens and dreaming. I'd like to share with you some of my favorite kitchens...I hope you enjoy! 

I'm not sure why I like this kitchen...maybe the white with the wood floors. It has a very homey feel to it.

Now wouldn't you just LOVE to have a kitchen like this...especially that sink!!

Another 'feel good' kitchen.

I LOVE this cupboard. The color is great but I'd paint mine white

Did you see the movie 'Something's Got To Give'?

I LOVE the kitchen in this movie!

I'm afraid my house is too small for a kitchen like this but I LOVE it.

Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson in Something's Got To Give

This kitchen has character.

This is a peak into the kitchen from the movie 'You've Got Mail'. I LOVE the feel of this little kitchen.

The whole apartment!

I wish I had French Doors in my kitchen...wouldn't that be wonderful!

I picture an English garden being outside of mine.

I hope you have fun thinking about your house

and maybe even about some renovations in the future.

Sometimes these may be dreams of grandeur

but hey...we can dream can't we!

Garden Dreaming

The Gardeners Morning

The robins song at daybreak

Is a clarion call to me,

Get up and get in the garden,

For the morning hours flee.

I cannot resist the summons,

For what earnest gardner could?

For the golden hours of morning,

Get into the gardners blood.

The magic spell is upon me,

I'm glad that I did not wait;

For lifes at it's best in the morning,

As you pass through the garden gate.

Howard Dolf

Oh how I'd LOVE to have gardens like these!

Can you smell these roses?

A perfect place to sit and enjoy the view

Imagine having tea in this garden in the morning.

Love this fence

I miss my flower gardens. I dream of my gardens. One day I'll have flower gardens here on the farm but I'm afraid it will be some time before we are ready to devote time and money towards them. 

So in the meantime I dream.

Sometimes these are dreams of grandeur;

English gardens

Fountains

Arbors

Ponds

Roses

Etc..

  

Imagine walking down this path

The perfect combination

I love blue in the garden

I love stone walls and vines

Oh how wonderful this garden path would smell!

I hope you get to enjoy your garden in the morning this weekend.

Best Wishes

Maura

More of Beautiful British Columbia

Southerland Falls

I moved to Kansas from a small ski village in British Columbia. There we recieved 40-60 feet of snow per winter...it was a true 'Winter Wonderland' where the snow came straight down and turned posts into mushrooms as the snow piled up. Sounds were muffled because of all the snow banks along the roads. If you didn't ski or snow mobile or snow board or some other form of outdoor activity it was a LONG LONG winter. Most of the people who lived there were the outdoors type...people who lived there because they LOVED it. Yes you either loved it or hated it. In the summers it rained a lot. This particular part of the country was considered a 'northern hemisphere rain forest' so it is a very lush green place to live. Moss and ferns were everywhere along with cedar and hemlock tree's. When the sun comes out...it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Clear water...waterfalls...mountain lakes... lush forests. A place I sometimes miss but most especially my family. I hope you enjoy a little taste of my homeland.

Hubby and I at Begbie Falls

Hubby can't get over the clear water. We don't see that in our area of Kansas.

Begbie Falls

Northern Hemisphere Rain Forest

Some of our Children and Grand Children

on the mossy trail near the waterfall

Heading back up the steep trail

These waterfalls are about a half hour drive from my former home. The closest town to the east was a 2 hour drive across mountain passes and summits. To the south you had to drive about  25 miles and then take a 20 minute ferry ride and then another half hour drive to a town smaller than mine. To the north it was 80 miles to a huge dam that was the end of the road and near the headwaters of the mighty Columbia River. To the west it was a 2 hour drive to a small city where we used to do a lot of our shopping.  Every where you went was beautiful scenery.

Do I miss it? I miss my family.

I still love the mountains but there is a beauty to the prairies and farmland. My Dad was a true 'flat lander'. He loved to visit us in BC with my Step Mom and he loved sight seeing and picking huckleberries on the side of a mountain and drinking from a mountain stream...but he would always say...'I LOVE the mountains...but they get in the way of the view!'

Finally I understand.